By Nate Seltenrich

Your fire-engine-red 1941 Ford pickup appeared in "American Graffiti," but you’ll also be showing a second classic car at Cruisin’ the Boulevard, correct?

Yes, a ‘57 Chevy Nomad. It’s freshly built. It sat for a long time, and it took three years to put it back together. Motor, air conditioning, body off the frame, new paint. It was completely rebuilt. That was completed two years ago. It’s got under 3,000 miles. I bought that in 1966, and the pickup I bought in 1959, so they’ve been in the family a long time.

Do you have a favorite?

Well, I’ve had the pickup since 1959. We’ve been to Oklahoma in it, we’ve been to British Columbia with it. It had a redwood-shake-roofed camper built for it in 1973, we’ve pulled trailers behind it, and it’s been all over. I drove it back and forth to work. It was put together in 1970 the last time, so it’s been on the road a long time. It’s been to a lot of car shows. And it’s still a weekly driver. 

What do you think about the film's depiction of life in Petaluma in 1962?

That was the year my wife and I were married. This month will be 64 years. We were married in ‘62, when she was still in high school. When we got married, her dad was in France and her mother was going to be with him, and that’s how we really got together. "Where were you in ‘62" is the motto for "American Graffiti," and that really fits.

Did you cruise the boulevard as a teenager? Does that sentiment also ring true?

Oooh yes. Oh yes. For sure. I got in trouble one night and I ended up in jail. Things happen. At that time I had a 401 Buick with 697s on it [a set of high-performance cylinder heads] and I went down there on I Street and spun the tires. And I got thrown in jail. And that was something that I had to put on paper, because I had a government job, and they probably would’ve yanked my clearance if I didn’t tell them something like that.

What is something that people don’t know about you?

I’ve been married to a great woman for 64 years. She puts up with me. Right now I’m waiting to have surgery on my heart. Sixteen years ago, they put a new aorta valve in my heart, and it’s been leaking. They’re going to re-operate on it. They told me that I only had a 5% chance when they opened me up like they did 16 years ago. So they finally figured out that they’re going to go in through my groin, move that old valve out of the way, and make room to put in a new valve. We’re still waiting to get the date set and be operated on.

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and readability.